Retired detectives say drowning deaths may be foul play

Monday

Apr 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 28, 2008 at 6:49 PM

Two retired New York City police believe the 2004 drowning death of a college student from Victor, N.Y., could be linked to the deaths of dozens of others across the country over the last 11 years, possibly the work of a group of serial killers.

Jessica Pierce

Two retired New York City police believe the 2004 drowning death of a college student from Victor, N.Y., could be linked to the deaths of dozens of others across the country over the last 11 years, possibly the work of a group of serial killers.

The death of Adam Falcon was ruled accidental in the days after his body was found in the Grasse River in Canton, N.Y.

An autopsy showed the St. Lawrence University student’s blood-alcohol content was .21, more than twice the legal limit for driving in New York.

But the two retired detectives, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, wonder if he was the victim of foul-play, as some of his loved ones had suspected.

Falcon’s death is one of 40 drowning deaths in 25 cities across the U.S. that are part of the investigation.

Gannon and Duarte have been tracking the suspicious drowning deaths of young men across the country for 11 years, starting with the death of college student Patrick McNeill, who drowned in New York City in 1997. Gannon promised McNeill’s parents he wouldn’t give up on the investigation.

The detectives went public with their suspicions on the national television show "Good Morning America" on Monday. They said that in each case, the alleged victims were young, male, athletic college students. Their deaths were mostly ruled drunken accidents, and in many instances, a smiley face symbol was found drawn near the scene.

The detectives said they found the smiley faces in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Canton, N.Y., police said no such symbol was found in Falcon’s case.

The Minneapolis television news station KSTP has been reporting on the investigation, as it has been following the 2002 death of a young man from that area named Chris Jenkins. Jenkins’ death is the only of the dozens of drowning deaths to so far be ruled a homicide.

Falcon, 20, was reported missing after he failed to show up for his soccer team's championship game earlier in the day. Dozens of his teammates, friends and family members joined multiple police agencies in an intensive search of the campus, village and surrounding area.

Canton police charged three people with allegedly serving Falcon alcohol in the hours before his death, and a fourth student with providing him with a fake ID. The state Liquor Authority, meanwhile, charged the tavern with two counts each of sale to a minor, sale to an intoxicated person and improper supervision. The tavern was fined $4,000 and its liquor license was suspended for two weeks in early 2005 on the charges tied to Falcon.

Falcon’s parents, Michael and Carla, could not be immediately reached for comment Monday morning. They filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court in September 2006 seeking damages from the university, the fellow St. Lawrence student whose license Falcon used the night he disappeared, two other students, two bartenders and owners of the Tick Tock, and others who were with Falcon that night.

Interviewed about the suit, which has since been moved from Ontario to St. Lawrence County, Michael Falcon told a Daily Messenger reporter he and Carla had hired a private investigator.

“I can tell you that we're after the truth,” he said then, “and we're making every effort to find out exactly what happened.”

Daily Messenger writer Jessica Pierce can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 250, or at jpierce@mpnewspapers.com.